Yellowstone and Happy, the Movies

We recently joined the 21st Century and got a laptop.  We have been trying to simplify things, so cable was changed and we signed up for Netflix that we stream. The laptop enables us to do this easier, so we have been utilizing the technology.

Our children suggest movies they think we would like such as Tiny; Mile, Mile and a Half; and Bottle Shock. All have been good films. But one thing I wasn't expecting was the, "If you liked this movie, you might like these," suggestions at the end of a Netflix streamed film. Wils said you know you are hooked when you start watching those suggested movies.We have started watching them.

The first was Where the Yellowstone Goes. This films chronicles a drift boat trip down the longest uninterrupted river in America, the Yellowstone. A good story about the people and the towns the boaters meet along the river.


The second movie we watched is Happy. This is a film about what makes people happy, and what are the consistent things happy people do no matter where they live or what they do.  From the slums of India to Okinawa to Bhutan we are taken to discover what makes people happy.













This is a good film and really brings home how we Americans have it easy in many ways, yet still are unhappy. This movie illustrates how others really think differently. In one case they did an MRI on a man the started to meditate on calmness during the MRI and his brain waves changed. The doctor said it caught on fire, and you could see as the brain patterns started exploding in reds and yellows.

This film sure made me think and rethink some things about my life.

The Beginning of Another School Year

And I am not there.

Yesterday at the farmer's market, a former colleague asked what I was thinking about not having to report for school this fall. I first answered with the usual comment about enjoying not having the stress. I then said I was sad. She mentioned a friend of hers that had just retired also. This friend was going to come back to work because he missed teaching. I miss teaching also.

I have been trying to organize my thoughts this past week about the odd feelings I have had. I miss teaching. I don't miss bureaucracy. I don't miss tests and papers. I do miss students, even the sullen ones that are a challenge to get to smile.

Still I wondered what was the root of the uneasiness. The comments about the other teacher shed light. I was sad to not be doing something that I have done for the last 31 years, and still like doing for the most part. The habits formed in those years haven't been broken yet. I realized I really need to make an effort to start new habits, new work to form new habits. As friend Jim did, I need to make a bookshelf.

Deep down as I opened myself up to these thoughts, I realize not teaching is still the correct decision. So many new worlds have and will open with that choice.

Civil Duty and Corn and Fencing

I was summoned for jury duty today. Fourth time I was called in the last three years or so. Fourth time I was excused. This time the defendant failed to appear for their summons. The authorities are now looking for them. Our child in the house commented, "Sucks to be them." Maybe so, but maybe not.

A room full of citizens heaved a heavy sigh. Some were thankful to go back to work, some not so thankful. A few of us had no pressing business. I wondered at the time and expense of nearly 75 people called to a room, then let go. Compared to other people in other parts of the world, I can spend some time sitting in a room talking.

Better than fleeing my homeland and gangs. Better than being asked to deny God and embrace Allah or being killed. Better than sitting of a hilltop hoping for food, water and maybe a trip off the hill. Better than watching my neighborhood burn in a St. Louis. Better than watching any of these on tv "news."

It looks like the corn crop is almost done for the year. A success by most standards. 94 human edible ears from two beds of about 88 square feet. At least a few dozen more went straight to the chickens. We haven't grown corn for years and this year we had a few empty beds and some seed, so we tried. We haven't grown corn recently because around here it is abundant and pretty cheap. So in a bad tomato year chalk this one up as a good thing.

Sure wish the hot weather would change. I want to get to work in some cool temps. The idea was that I would be working at another job, and that is still the plan. Yesterday was spent making a new gate in the back fence. It will be part of a bigger gate that will allow driving a vehicle or trailer onto the back concrete. I need to finish by on doing the old gate and re-fence that area. This will allow to get the chicken coop area cleaned up.



Sure is nice to not have school hanging over my head. How did I do that for 30 years?

7 August 2014

Just now the first bell rang. I didn't hear it. For the first time in 31 years I didn't hear it sound. I'm having a feeling of sadness and lack of stress today. This is the real first day of "retirement." Or call it a change of jobs. I'm not in a classroom waiting as the students wander in with their new clothes and happy voices waiting to tell stories of their summer.

I have no doubts about the decision to change, but the new paradigm in our lives is still taking time to get comfortable with.

A Book Review: A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit

I've been thinking about the future and specifically about what the world might be like if some of the current scenarios go down as they have been projected. One that keeps popping up is the Zombie Apocalypse. The idea that society has only a thin veneer of good covering over our evil. As a Christian I believe that we have an evil heart, but Jesus has given us a direction around that. I used to teach Lord of the Flies and subscribed to the idea of a society over time becoming less helpful to individuals as others in the society gain power. I've never really thought this would happen, but many do. I was reading one day and this book was recommended. It's being used in a college class and sounded interesting even with the title. The subtitle really caught my eye, The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster.

The book tells the stories of five disasters/catastrophes within recent history: the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the 1917 Halifax munitions explosion, the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. Along the way other disasters are mentioned and discussed.

The first part of the book celebrates the good things that ordinary people do in a disaster, but the last part of the book focuses on the problems created by government, mostly the Bush Administration. The book was published just after President Bush left office, so many of the current government issues addressed were under his watch. Overall, leaders from many different parties and beliefs did bad in the name of "helping" their citizens.

Solnit does a good job of explaining her premise that individuals on their own will help each other in a disaster. She defines our preconceived disaster paradigms, and gives sources for how we come to those ideas. She also uses past scholarship to show us how people have acted under the stress of these crises.

The book is worth the read, and I would have difficulty giving a  thoroughly good summary. I came away having a belief in the good of people and was reinforced in my suspicion in government. Solnit gives examples of people doing good and I needed that at this time.